In the story, Dave Wickersham, chief operating officer for Seagate Technology, the world’s largest maker of disk drives, marveled at how the hard drive industry has zoomed past its counterparts in the automobile industry. He observed:

A car in 1956 cost about $2,500, could hold five people, weighed a ton, and could go as fast as 100 mph. If the auto industry had kept the same pace as disk drives, a car today would cost less than $25, hold 160,000 people, weigh half a pound and travel up to 940 mph.

Hector e-mailed me with his thoughts, showing that the analogy does not quite hold. He said:

If my car was like my hard drive, I would need to keep an exact copy of everything that I carry in the car because sooner or later the car is going to lock itself, and I will never get into it again. If I decide to go to the trouble of getting into the car, I will have to take it to a specialized mechanic that will probably charge as much as the car cost, with absolutely no guarantee of salvaging anything.

If my car was like my hard drive, every time I use something in the car, I will need to break said item into multiple pieces, and store it in random locations throughout the car. Every time this happens, the car’s performance will deteriorate until the car becomes frustratingly slow to drive.

If my car was like my computer, I can count on it locking up all four tires, regardless of where I am driving or how fast I am going.

If my car was like my computer and it failed to start on the first try, I would have to go back into the house, get back into my pajamas, get into bed, re-set the alarm clock and start the whole process all over again.

If my car was like my computer, the guy who sells me an aftermarket alarm might be the same guy who is trying to steal it.

If my car was like my computer, I would not be able to buy any parts for it if it was built before 1995, and even my 2000 model might run poorly or quit completely if I add any new parts.

You get the idea. I love my car and I trust it. I love my computer, but I don’t ever, ever, ever trust it.